32: Lead Well Live Well with Dee Blick - Episode 3232: Lead Well Live Well with Dee Blick - Episode 32
UK Health Radio Podcast
Leadership coach and author Alex Thornton talks about leaving a secure leadership role to launch her own business, guided by intuition. She shares her Keystone System for leaders, the emotional reality of early self-employment, and the ideas behind her book on intuitive thinking.
53:38•24 Oct 2026
Courage over Comfort: Alex Thornton on Intuition, Leadership and Starting Again
Episode Overview
- Trusting intuition can highlight when a role or organisation no longer fits and prompt healthy change.
- Starting a business brings fear and uncertainty, but also energy, motivation and a sense of possibility.
- Leaders benefit more from specific, problem-focused development than generic training programmes.
- Sustained leadership performance depends on rest and recuperation rather than being available 24/7.
- Intuition can be treated as another form of data, used alongside logic to set boundaries and make life-altering decisions.
“For all of my life, my life served the businesses that I've worked for. This time, my bold ambition is that this business serves my life.”
Guided by what she calls her "lovely intuition", Alex noticed that her personal vision had drifted away from the company’s direction and realised, as she puts it, "I just needed to do something different." That shift meant swapping a regular salary and company car for the uncertainty of being "the architect of your own success or God forbid your own downfall." Across their chat, you’ll hear about the emotional rollercoaster of early self-employment: imposter syndrome, money fears and that familiar late-night voice asking, "What if I fail?" Alex balances this with the buzz of signing first clients, seeing real change in people she supports, and holding a bold yet simple ambition: "this business serves my life" rather than the other way round.
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This conversation on UK Health Radio’s *Lead Well Live Well* zooms in on a different, but closely related theme: the courage it takes to walk away from safety and design a life that feels genuinely aligned. Host Dee Blick chats with leadership coach, author and new business owner Alex Thornton, who recently left a secure, well-paid role running a leadership consultancy to start her own company.
She also talks through her Keystone System for leadership – a practical framework built around clear vision, strategic focus under pressure and honest team accountability – and how modern leaders are expected to coach, care, communicate and perform in a 24/7, tech-heavy world. Later, Alex shares the backstory to her book *Intuitive Thinking: Seven Steps to Transform Your Life Forever*, written initially to pull herself out of feeling stuck, anxious and burnt out.
She frames intuition as "another form of data" that, when combined with logic, helps people set boundaries, leave misaligned roles and step closer to a life that fits. If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re "meant for more" or felt torn between comfort and courage, this conversation may nudge you to ask: what would my own intuition say if I finally listened?
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